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Balochistan Watch: UPI Intelligence
National Ledger - Apache Junction,AZ,USA
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, has been gripped by rising violence since December 2005
when insurgents attempted to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in the provincial capital Quetta.
Islamabad responded by sending in troops, who now total more than 40,000.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has issued a report on the Balochistan unrest. Frederic
Grare, who served as a French diplomat in France's embassy in Islamabad, authored the study.
Grare writes, "In the absence of foreign support, which does not appear imminent, the Baloch movement
cannot prevail over a determined central government with obviously superior military strength."
Grare concludes that Baloch nationalists are using the turmoil to strengthen their negotiating position
with the central government. Baloch leaders have stated that they aspire to a generous amount of
autonomy. As Balochistan is rich in natural resources, including gas, it is becoming increasingly
important to the national economy.
Grare believes that if the Pakistani government denies the local requests for increased autonomy, then
the medium- and long-term consequences of the struggle for independence will be hard to foresee, with
the situation possibly degenerating into civil war.
The Daily Times reported on April 4 that Grare wrote, "Almost six decades of intermittent conflict have
given rise to a deep feeling of mistrust towards the central government. The Baloch will not forget Gen.
Pervez Musharraf's recent promises and the insults hurled from time to time at certain nationalist leaders.
The projects that were trumpeted as the means to Balochistan's development and integration have so far
led only to the advance of the Pakistani military in the province, accompanied by the removal of the local
population from their lands and by the intense speculation that benefits only the army and its henchmen."
Grare postulates that Baloch nationalism is a "reality" that Pakistan's government cannot ignore forever or
fob off with unmet promises of development.
"For the moment, with little certainty about the conclusion of an agreement between the central
government and the nationalist leaders, the province is likely to enter a new phase of violence with
long-term consequences that are difficult to predict. This conflict could be used in Pakistan and
elsewhere as a weapon against the Pakistan government. Such a prospect would affect not only Pakistan
but possibly all its neighbors. It is ultimately Islamabad that must decide whether Balochistan will
become its Achilles' heel," Grare wrote.
During the last three decades, the conflict in Balochistan has resulted in 8,000 deaths, 3,000 of them
military personnel.
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27264676.shtml
National Ledger - Apache Junction,AZ,USA
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, has been gripped by rising violence since December 2005
when insurgents attempted to assassinate President Pervez Musharraf in the provincial capital Quetta.
Islamabad responded by sending in troops, who now total more than 40,000.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace has issued a report on the Balochistan unrest. Frederic
Grare, who served as a French diplomat in France's embassy in Islamabad, authored the study.
Grare writes, "In the absence of foreign support, which does not appear imminent, the Baloch movement
cannot prevail over a determined central government with obviously superior military strength."
Grare concludes that Baloch nationalists are using the turmoil to strengthen their negotiating position
with the central government. Baloch leaders have stated that they aspire to a generous amount of
autonomy. As Balochistan is rich in natural resources, including gas, it is becoming increasingly
important to the national economy.
Grare believes that if the Pakistani government denies the local requests for increased autonomy, then
the medium- and long-term consequences of the struggle for independence will be hard to foresee, with
the situation possibly degenerating into civil war.
The Daily Times reported on April 4 that Grare wrote, "Almost six decades of intermittent conflict have
given rise to a deep feeling of mistrust towards the central government. The Baloch will not forget Gen.
Pervez Musharraf's recent promises and the insults hurled from time to time at certain nationalist leaders.
The projects that were trumpeted as the means to Balochistan's development and integration have so far
led only to the advance of the Pakistani military in the province, accompanied by the removal of the local
population from their lands and by the intense speculation that benefits only the army and its henchmen."
Grare postulates that Baloch nationalism is a "reality" that Pakistan's government cannot ignore forever or
fob off with unmet promises of development.
"For the moment, with little certainty about the conclusion of an agreement between the central
government and the nationalist leaders, the province is likely to enter a new phase of violence with
long-term consequences that are difficult to predict. This conflict could be used in Pakistan and
elsewhere as a weapon against the Pakistan government. Such a prospect would affect not only Pakistan
but possibly all its neighbors. It is ultimately Islamabad that must decide whether Balochistan will
become its Achilles' heel," Grare wrote.
During the last three decades, the conflict in Balochistan has resulted in 8,000 deaths, 3,000 of them
military personnel.
http://www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_27264676.shtml
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| Baloch Society Of North America (BSO_NA) Baloch Society Of North America (BSO_NA) is Non-Profit Organization, working to unite and Organize all Baloch in North America, to expose the Occupation of our land (Balochistan) and exploitations of our resources by Pakistani and Iranian Governments, and to bring their Human Rights Violations in Balochistan into the world’s Notice. |